Othello and Iago, by Solomon Alexander Hart, RA (1806-1881)

Othello and Iago

Solomon Alexander Hart, RA (1806-1881)

1857

Watercolour

Height: 16.75 in, Width: 13.25 in

Victoria and Albert Museum (in the Prints and Drawings Studies Room)

Museum no. 3038-1876

William Smith Bequest, 1976

This depicts Othello and Iago from Shakespeare's Othello, Act III, Scene 3 — the scene in which Iago sows seeds of suspicion in Othello's mind. [Commentary continues below.]

Image capture, formatting and text by Jacqueline Banerjee.

Image reproduced here by kind permission of the Victoria & Albert Museum. [Click on image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

Noting that Hart worked in watercolour as well as in oils, Helen Valentine cites this particular watercolour as "a fine example" of his work in the medium, describing it as "brilliantly hued" and adding that he himself viewed it as "the best watercolour drawing I have ever done" (her source here being the RA archives MIS/HA14). Apart from the colours, it is a wonderfully expressive painting, with Othello looking perplexed and anxious as the apparently earnest Iago insinuates that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful to him.

Bibliography

"Othello and Iago." Victoria and Albert Museum. Web. 14 September 2018.

Valentine, Helen. "Hart, Solomon Alexander (1806–1881), historical genre painter." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Web. 14 September 2018.

Created 14 September 2018